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Paris sets up voting booths for Senegal elections

Paris’s Senegalese community flooded offices set up in the city’s northern suburbs on Sunday, to vote for a new president in Senegal’s contentious elections. President Abdoulaye Wade is up for a third term, amidst violent protest during the campaigns.

Fifty-one voting centres were established around Plaine-Saint-Denis and remained open from 7:30 a.m to 5 p.m. A total of 30,309 people have registered to vote and turnout was high at midday.

Diagne Sy, who has lived in France for 45 years, told the AFP news agency, “I’ve come to vote for my future president. It’s a civil and moral responsibility.”

Who's who in 2012 Senegalese presidential election

Each voting centre has posted electoral regulations to remind voters of standard procedure, as well as a voting guide on the 13 candidates.

Among those running is current President Wade, who at 85 is fighting for a controversial third term.

Wade recently instated a new electoral mandate of seven years, which would allow him to run for a third term. Wade has held power for the last 12 years.